We really sympathize with Moses, Joshua, and their successors after we see how stubborn and fickle the Israelites were. Despite several specific divine manifestations, their doubts often overcame their faith and they faced the consequences. Their leaders, especially Joshua, had to be persuasive when speaking in order to effectively call the Israelites to repentance.
Joshua 24, for example, is rich with rhetorical devices that incite both logical and pathetic appeals. Joshua uses contraries, a topic of invention, to offer the Israelites an option: "choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell" (v 15). He relies subtly on past fact/ future fact (another topic of invention). When their fathers served God, they were happy. He also alludes to the fact that they only dwell in the land of the Amorites because God led them there.
He shows his power and authority through climax. While the Israelites can choose for themselves, he offers advice through his example: "but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". Joshua maintains credibility because he doesn't obligate. His choice to serve the Lord seems resonates with us because we see the consequences of deciding not to serve Him right before. This clever mix of climax and antithesis --both of which are schemes of rhetoric-- makes the passage that much more memorable.
This small verse touches the hearts of the Israelites as they "covenant" to serve the Lord in all of their days. By effectively manipulating the structure of his rhetoric, Joshua was able to persuade the Israelites to change their ways.
It really is a big contrast- you are serving one OR you are serving the other. By placing them side by side, you can see it's laid out for you, it is a choice. I love that he allows the reader to choose- I feel like usually in the scriptures we are told what to do, but Joshua, like Christ, is sharing examples of what he or other people chose to do. Christ through parables, Joshua through this passage.
ReplyDeleteIt's cool that Joshua not only preaches to the people, but creates ethos by living by what he is teaching.
ReplyDeleteThe use of climax in this scripture is really powerful because it sets the standard of the choices that the Israelites can make. They can either choose to serve the gods of their fathers or the gods of the Amorites, but if the prophet is choosing to serve the Lord, that's a good indication of what the Israelites should do.
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